Fundraising For School Prom

Own_My_Own

My 15 year old daughter has come home from school and announced that her school have told them there is no money for a prom this year.
So with 3 other friends she has made a Prom Fundraising Committee !
They spoke to the head of year about a car wash, to which they were told, they would have to buy their own sponges.:eek:

I have told them to get a meeting with the School Head to see if they can get a float, and to go to the local paper for publicity for any events they have.
But just in case, they need more events that need no or very little money up-front to start. Once they have made some they can use some.

They have some ideas, such as a Fun Run and

my idea was, to ask all of you for your ideas :j:j:j

mumtosix

Does the school have a pta? We donate £600 each year to the prom, the children then purchase their tickets (think they're £10/£15). The prom committee normally write a letter asking us to help! They do not stipulate how much, we just give! Sorry can't be of much help!

luxor4t

The school I work at arranges the Prom but it is largely funded by the pupils - staff are expected to attend but have to pay for themselves.
The school organises a savings club for pupils.

lostinrates

Does the school have somewhere (like a hall) to host this and will they let the kids do it there? If not they need to get an idea of somewhere to hold it and what the budget needs to be. That gives them a goal to aim for.

Then they need to get an idea of what the commitment from their year mates would be and how much they are prepared to pay for tickets.

Personally, i think its right that money is not made from the school for this....its not ' education' and its often a rather tawdry thing, but if the kids organise it themselves then its enterprising and has value for them in organisation and responsibility.

babyshoes

The traditional one is a cake bake - if a group of kids each bring in a batch of cupcakes / biscuits etc to sell at break time the cost to each is minimal. The profits from that can be their seed capital for the car wash or any other ventures.

Pound shops often have wash 'n wax shampoo (which you can dilute quite a lot), buckets and sponges - the quality is fine for a basic wash though I wouldn't want to use them regularly on an expensive car. The shampoo stuff bubbles up nicely and the sponges are big enough - usually 3 for £1. Would also recommend a proper large squeegee for getting the water off cars to prevent streaking (only need one per group - one person is in charge of using it). They also sometimes sell things like instant valet upholstery spray, dash cleaner, wheel rim brushes and tyre cleaner. If using tyre cleaner, remind them not to get any on the tread, only the sidewall! If using dash polish / cleaner remind them not to get it on steering wheel, gear-knob or pedals as they will be slippery and unsafe.

What about a clothing swap meet? Everyone who wants to attend brings some wearable garments in decent condition and pays a small admission fee. They get the same number of tickets (or simply a ticket with the number written on it) as the number of items they brought, and can take away the same number. If they want to take away more items, they pay a token price - say 20 - 50p per garment. If the school is supportive, I'm sure they would allow the hall or a classroom to be used after school / at lunch (better after school, not much time at lunch) or on a Saturday. The fundraisers would need volunteers to staff the door, take money, issue tickets, display clothing on tables (or if you can borrow some clothing racks and hangers they will look nicer), set up a changing room (old sheets and a few poles rigged up with cable ties / tape / pins), tidy afterwards and check number of outgoing items against tickets. They should do these jobs in 2 shifts so that they can also participate if they want. At the end of the event, any left over clothing can be bagged up for a charity shop, which will need a willing parent / teacher with a car for transport.

For the more talkative ones, perhaps a sponsored silence might be successful? They can carry around those mini whiteboards or scrap paper notepads to communicate.

teapackets

What about each child bringing in an item of non perishable food, eg sugar, tins, chocolates etc and making up a huge hamper (or several) and raffle them off.

Each child could be have the responsibility of selling say £20 worth of tickets??

zippychick

As this has dropped down the OS board, ive moved this to the families board in case any of the Mums or Dads over here have some previous experience of this kind of thing

thanks
Zip

Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please

mrcow

A cake sale is always a good starter for rasing a small amount of cash to set you off.

Raffles are always a good idea too. Get parents to ask their work if they can donate prizes (any prizes!). Any sales they make are 10% profit. Shops will often donate too if it's a local cause.

GobbledyGook

They should contact the supermarkets and see if there is a bag packing slot available. That usually raises a fair bit.

How much do they have to raise as that will impact on viable suggestions?

Do they actually need to raise money or would they be better to scout for donations of 'things'? So they might be better canvassing local DJ's to see if one will play for free in return for giving out his/her card to everyone who attends for example.

Instead of having a baking sale they might be better having donations of soft drinks to sell/give out on the night and baking to be donated for the same purpose.

lika_86

Agree with the suggestion of finding local businesses who might donate in return for publicity or raising money by selling things/car wash etc, I don't agree with a Fun Run or other sponsored events to raise money though. I personally wouldn't give money so a load of teenagers can have a party (I also refuse to give to those who do 'charity holidays' like walking the Great Wall of China as a charity thing).

Bag packing in supermarkets might be allowed but again, be aware of what you're asking people to give money to.

Foggster

Mmmm, this is a tough one.

Where I work, we use a % of the money that has been raised over the years from school photograph commission. This normally pays for the disco and towards the transport (if this is required). The students then pay for the tickets at full price, although this is normally no more than £20 per head.

If there was fundraising involved, I would look at doing something like a bingo, where parents donate prizes and you open up the evening to the school community. Bingo will always bring in the crowds.